Dump the downtown hotel? Dump Walkup? Or dump both?

The Arizona Daily Star constantly whines about the Democrat-controlled Tucson City Council and Rio Nuevo. Let’s not forget that Republican Mayor Walkup is in his third term. He’s just as culpable for the wasted funds as the the City Council.

Yesterday on the John C. Scott Show (1330 AM), Councilman Steve Kozachik reported that he finally has the votes on the City Council to kill the downtown hotel project, but Walkup has used a procedural maneuver to stop the vote.

Walkup has been the primary cheerleader for the downtown hotel project which has dragged on for years and cost the city millions of dollars. (Hopefully, the expenditures for the new entrance to the Tucson Convention Center were included in those funds. I hate to think we got nothing– but plans– for that money. Unfortunately, as Scott pointed out putting the new entrance on the out-dated TCC– without refurbishing the interior– was like putting “Grecian columns on a travel trailer.” Ouch.)

Kozachik has been a thorn in the project’s side since he took office. (That’s what he gets for reading the plans and the budgets!) I agree with Kozachik:

The downtown hotel project as it is currently envisioned by the developer and Walkup is too expensive.

Dump the convention hotel (until the economy improves) and DUMP Walkup. (Food for thought: the business-dominated Republican Party often promotes business people for government offices. The implication is that CEO types know how to run businesses and organizations and, therefore, will intuitively know how to run government better than career politicians. Walkup was an executive at Hughes Aircraft — now Raytheon.)

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

9 comments on “Dump the downtown hotel? Dump Walkup? Or dump both?”

cochisecitizen

October 15, 2010

“My vote is to dump both”

– Sounds good to me. I live out in Cochise County, so I don’t have a dog in this fight. But I’m retired from working in hotel management for many years and do know a thing or two about hotels. Company I worked for owned and we manged a hotel in downtown Atlanta, near the convention center. For hotels that get the bulk of their business from convention business, it’s either feast or famine. When there’s a large convention in town you’re running 100% occupancy and struggling to keep up with it. When there’s no convention in town, you’re running 15-20% occupancy, cutting staff like mad, trying to not loose too much money until the next convention comes to town. With Tucson being an activity destination – visitors attracted primarily to the resorts, golf courses, and day trips to the national parks, etc. – this downtown hotel will be dead, dead, dead except during major conventions, and Tucson seems to be losing more conventions that it’s been gaining. This hotel will never be profitable – that’s why not a single hotel company is interested in building it unless the taxpayers foot the bill.

It seems some things have been forgotton about this whole thing.
The legislature created the stadium district bill to foster construction of elements which then encourages private sector development. Stadiums, arenas, large cultural projects which generally don’t pencil out, but energize other development was the intent of the initial legislation. Real cities are the only organization that can really create these collections of institutions. Edge cities like Oro Valley or Marana don’t have the ability to do this, they are parasites to the main city.
The TIF funds created by the Rio Nuevo project are not to support private development, they are for creating development for the common good then the private sector can develop around them to take advantage of them.
The Legislature has lost sight of the original intent or been blinded by a form of economic fundamentalism which places the market above the needs of society.
To take this project and turn around the intent by saying Rio Nuevo should only fund projects which show a return is a gross perversion of the original intent.

They should build the cultural institutions and the arena, let the private sector be parasitic to that. To place the hotel in the position of intercepting all the funds is robbery of all the people who spent money in the district. Essentially it will be to enrich a corporation and construction companies…. little will be left over for else.

May God forgive me –but I agree with Pamela. It wont happen again!
Koz is right. But when we loose the Gem and Mineral Show who will take responsibility? I know the Hotel is a loosing bargain but the Gem and Mineral people just may walk. The Las Vegas tourism/Hotel folks are licking their chops at this one.
The whole Rio Nuevo was the biggest clust**** in the history of mankind.

If you look at the historical links in one of my stories, the city has been dithering around with the hotel since 2007.

Also– back in my list of old stories (now linked to the Citizen), you’ll see that I have covered 2 of the many downtown land deals that have gone sour and lost the city money– under Walkup’s watch. Yes, the M&C signed off on these bad land deals, but my still-unanswered question is: Who draws up these contracts? The M&C do not create the contracts– although they certainly take the heat when they go bad. City staff write the contracts and negotiate them. Someone (amongst the staff) is either highly incompetent or corrupt. Look for more downtown development stories to come.

I do believe we need better convention hotel downtown– just not this plan at this time and with this amount of long-term risk. The financial risk to the taxpayers is too great, and the city has a history of getting fleeced. Read the Haywood Sanders research report (linked to this story). We are not the only city to be wooed by developers trying to make a buck.

Be careful what you widh for. If you replace Walkup you you more than likey get another like Steve Koziack.Which will be great! I cant wait for the other democrats on the council to come up for reelection. A couple are safe because of their sup[orters. But the others beware.

fraser007

October 15, 2010

typo–wish

corporate takeover

October 15, 2010

I have yet to see a coherent account about how a retired defense sector executive came out of nowhere to take over Tucson City Hall, subsequently to help drive Tucson straight into the ground. The DAY AFTER his first election the City Manager Gutierrez resigned – should this tell you something ? We are now in hock $250 MILLION on Rio Nowhere, with Nothing to show for it – this has been well documented by the Star.

Pamela, Walkup is about 10 million times more progressive than Kozachik. When the sales tax loses, everything progressive about this city is going to be gone for good. What side is Walkup on? What side is Koz on?
You’re so misguided that’s it’s downright hysterical to read what you write. This is why Democrats are about to lose Congress and can’t win seats in the Legislature. Because the people on their side can’t figure out who their real enemies are.

Progressive Action

Governor Ducey had proposed increasing prison beds and funding, while cutting education. Protesters took issue with that short-sighted idea.

We often hear that corporations need migrant workers because Americans “don’t want to do these jobs.” When I hear this statement, I picture farm workers picking vegetables. Recently, I toured two dairies and an animal feed packing plant in Pinal County. The photo above from the Zinke Dairy shows a giant cow milking carousel. Nine migrant workers milk 4000 cows three times a day at this dairy. Legislators watched the two men pictured here– working at a brisk pace– bend over and pick up, lift, and attach large electronic suction cups to the cows as they ride the carousel around the giant facility. This level of automation is the wave of the future for industrial jobs.

Safe Park, downtown Tucson

Desconocido (unknown)

John Nichols of ‘The Nation’ addressed progressives and unionists at a Tucson event.

Despite the sweltering heat, Jim and I had a great time at the Labor Day Picnic. We collected a lot of Clean Elections $5 donations and signatures. Here I am with LD9 chair Michael Dues.

Protesting migrant deaths in the Arizona desert.

We are the 99%.

PDA Tucson Coordinator Jim Hannley speaks against both the crowd management ordinance and the urban camping ban at the City Council meeting.

I have a background in research. Help me build Tucson’s tech industry and grow our own local businesses.

Rep. Sally Ann Gonzales and I were interviewed by NBC at the Phoenix rally.

Jim and I were part of a contingent of Unitarian Universalists who came up from Tucson. Here I am with Rev. Ron Phares from the Mountain Vista UU Church in my district. (Jim is photobombing us.)

Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley with members of the Tucson Chapter of NOW on opening day at the Arizona Legislature, 2018.

A homeless man sleeps in the shadow of corporate America.

In the 1980s, the Tucson Weekly called Tucson the “Baked Apple”.

The Living Economy event was very informative; we had a great time hob-nobbing. My husband Jim is a small business owner and a member of Local First Arizona. I have owned two small businesses in the past– Powers/Queen Associates and Wind Dancer Design. We support Local First Arizona and buying/investing locally. We believe that supporting local small businesses with low-interest loans through a public/private partnership between a public bank and community banks and credit unions is the sustainable route to improving our local economy. Trickle down economics doesn’t work; it’s time for new ideas.

Jobs with Justice marching with Occupy Tucson in support of postal workers.

Occupy encampment in Armory Park– before it was cleared out in the middle of the night by Tucson Police.

There have been many lively debates in the Arizona House in 2018. This team of House Democrats fought for consumer protections and fought against risky financial deals in a “regulatory sandbox.” (Pictured are Reps. Mitzi Epstein, Kelli Butler, Athena Salman, Pamela Powers Hannley, Ken Clark and Isela Blanc.)

It was truly a honor to meet Nevada State Senator Patricia Spearman (center) in October and to confer with her regarding our efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Arizona. Spearman led the successful Nevada efforts to ratify the ERA in 2017. Here we are with activist and NOW leader Dainne Post after the ERA workshop at the We the People Conference in Phoenix. There are a lot of Arizona women who are ready to make history in 2018. Watch my blog here and my Facebook page here for ERA updates.

Visiting with PALF chairman Fred Yamashita at the 2016 Labor Day Picnic.

Ironically, I posted this blog post on the anniversary of this election on June 19. 1970ish.

A giant poet’s head made up of stainless steel letters marks the stop near the UA Poetry Center.

Congressman Ron Barber and Pamela Powers Hannley at Cyclovia

This is a broken sink in the Ladies’ Room at the Arizona State Building in downtown Tucson. One of the elevators also was broken. It’s time to fix Arizona government.

Search this site

About

I stand on the side of Love. I believe in kindness to all creatures on Earth and the inherent self-worth of all individuals--not just people who agree with me or look like me.

Widespread economic and social injustice prompted me to become a candidate for the Arizona House, representing Legislative District 9 in the 2016 election. My platform focuses on economic reforms to grow Arizona's economy, establish a state-based public bank, fix our infrastructure, fully fund public education, growlocal small businesses and community banks, and put people back to work at good-paying jobs. I also stand for equal rights, choice, and paycheck fairness for women. I am running as a progressive and running clean.

My day job is managing editor for the American Journal of Medicine, an academic medicine journal with a worldwide circulation. In addition, my husband and I co-direct Arizonans for a New Economy, Arizona's public banking initiative. I am a member of the national board of the Public Banking Institute, and I am co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus of the Arizona Democratic Party.

I am a published author, photographer, videographer, clay artist, mother, nana, and wife. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio State University and a masters in public health from the University of Arizona. I grew up in Amherst, Ohio, but I have lived in Tucson, Arizona since 1981. I am a proud member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson and the Public Relations Society of America.

My Tucson Progressive blog and Facebook page feature large doses of liberal ideas, local, state, and national politics, and random bits of humor. I also blog at Blog for Arizona and the Huffington Post.